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Immigration News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani

November 2021

White House to lift travel restrictions

According to Reuters, the White House will lift Covid- 19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign nationals effective November 8, ending restrictions that had barred much of the world from entering the U.S.

The travel restrictions kept millions of visitors out of the U.S. from China, Canada, Mexico, India, Brazil, much of Europe and elsewhere, thus preventing family reunification. Restrictions on non-U.S. citizens were first imposed on air travelers from China in January 2020 by then President Donald Trump and then extended to dozens of other countries without any clear metrics for how and when to lift them. Curbs on nonessential travelers at land borders with Mexico and Canada have been in place since March 2020 to address the Covid- 19 pandemic.

New ICE priorities announced

On September 30, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced new Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law to better focus their resources on the apprehension and removal of noncitizens who are a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security and advance the interests of justice by ensuring a case-by-case assessment of whether an individual poses a threat. In the last six months, Secretary Mayorkas held multiple engagements with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workforce and leadership across the country, as well as with a range of stakeholders including law enforcement, civic and community leaders to inform the new guidance.

“For the first time, our guidelines will, in the pursuit of public safety, require an assessment of the individual and take into account the totality of the facts and circumstances,” said Secretary Mayorkas. “In exercising this discretion, we are guided by the knowledge that there are individuals in our country who have been here for generations and contributed to our country’s well-being, including those who have been on the frontline in the battle against Covid, lead congregations of faith, and teach our children. As we strive to provide them with a path to status, we will not work in conflict by spending resources seeking to remove those who do not pose a threat and, in fact, make our nation stronger.”

The immigration enforcement guidelines require the protection of civil rights and civil liberties. A noncitizen’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, national origin, political associations or exercise of First Amendment rights cannot be factors in deciding to take enforcement action. For the first time, they explicitly guard against the use of immigration enforcement as a tool of retaliation for a noncitizen’s assertion of legal rights, such as the right to exercise workplace or tenant rights. The guidelines make clear that immigration enforcement authority shall not be used as an instrument of unscrupulous employers seeking to exploit their employees’ immigration status.

Continuous training, a process to review their effective implementation, extensive data collection, and a case review process will all be required. The new guidelines replace the interim priorities issued by ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson in February and become effective November 29, 2021. Secretary Mayorkas is expected to issue additional immigration-related policy memos in the coming weeks.

APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES FOR NOVEMBER 2021

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01Dec14	01Dec14
2A	Current	Current
2B	22Sep15	22Sep15
3rd	22Nov08	22Nov08
4th	15Sep05	22Mar07

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	01Dec11	Current
3rd	15Jan12	Current
Other	15Jan12	Current
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B

DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS - NOVEMBER 2021

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	15May16	15May16
2A	01Jun21	01Jun21
2B	22Sep16	22Sep16
3rd	22Aug09	22Aug09
4th	01Jan06	01Oct07

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	08Jan13	Current
3rd	22Jan12	Current
Other	22Jan12	Current
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B